The TatCave
Tools Processing

Click on picture for close-up Explanation of the process
ALL needles are disposed of in a sharps container, never to be re-used.

It was once a common industry practice to "disassemble" the needles (remove the needles from each bar), then throw away just the needles and re-use the needle bars with new needles soldered on them. Note that this is a dangerous practice and is also a violation of OSHA standards. We do not do this.
Tubes and grips are immediately placed in an ultrasonic cleaner, located in the "biohazard room." The 'sonic is filled with a special cleaning solution to maximize cavitational cleaning action,  and run for at least 15 minutes. This process breaks down and removes contaminated ink from the tubes.
Note the exhaust ventilation fan located directly above the ultrasonic cleaner. This fan assures all pathogens vaporized by the ultrasonic process are vented outside of the building and not re-circulated into the shop. This is an important component of "negative ventilation" and helps to assure an aseptic environment is maintained.
After processing by the 'sonic, tools and equipment are manually scrubbed to further assure all foreign matter is removed. 
Tubes are then placed on a drying rack.
Once dried, they are packaged in sterilization pouches and...
...placed in the autoclave. Our autoclave room is physically separated from the biohazard processing room (ultrasonic cleaner) by a full partition. This eliminates any cross contamination from our biohazard room into our "clean room."
The autoclave is run for 30 minutes at 275 degrees Fahrenheit, which creates a pressure of 30 PSI. This effectively kills all microbial life forms and bacterial spores. Note that this exceeds the State of Hawaii Department of Health tattoo shop standards for sterilization.
  Body piercing tools and supplies are handled in a similar manner. Needles are disposed of in a sharps container after use, and new sterile needles are used in all piercings. Tools and forceps are processed the same as tattooing equipment, with the exception that they are given a "surgical lubrication" bath to maintain smooth operation and longevity.

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